Limerick man set to take part in his 44th Dublin Marathon this weekend

THE IRISH LIFE Dublin Marathon is set to take place this Sunday with over 22,500 entrants including international and elite athletes, club runners, wheelchair participants, charity fundraisers, and first-time marathoners have registered to take part in this year’s 26.2-mile race.

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Among those participating is Rathkeale native Seamus Cawley. Seamus has ran in every single Dublin Marathon to date, since its inception in 1980.

Seamus is part of a remarkable group known as the 'Dublin Marathon Originals' will also also participate.

This group has completed every race since the inaugural event in 1980 and includes members such as Martin Kelly (Dublin), Peadar Nugent (Galway), Donal Ward (Donegal), Seamus Dunne (Meath), Patrick Gowen (Dublin), Dominic Gallagher (Dublin), and Mick Carolan (Dublin).

Notably, Mary Nolan Hickey from Greystones in Wicklow is the only woman to have completed every Dublin Marathon since 1980.

Unfortunately, due to an injury, Mary will not be able to start this year, ending her impressive unbroken streak that has lasted over four decades.

Seamus is unmistakably a member of that illustrious group and the 66-year-old is looking forward to this year's installment of the marathon, stating that preparations are going well for this Sunday. 

"Preparations are going well, now that the week of the race is here you almost just want to get it over and done with, when you're doing it every year, when you know it's coming up.

So as I said you just want to kind of get it done and get over the mountain, get to that finish line. In my latter years, my days of racing are gone and When you get to my age you're almost just surviving." 

Running was always a passion for Seamus growing up in west Limerick. The Rathkeale native first started running with West Limerick AC in 1977 and he hasn't looked back since. 

"I started running with Rathkeale in 1977 and then in 1979 West Limerick AC were formed and I've been running with them ever since, competing in things like cross country, track and marathons, the marathon was always my best event."

Seamus admits competing and participating in 44 Dublin Marathons was never something he foresaw when he first took an interest in the sport in the late 1970s. 

"Not at all did I think I'd be at it this long. I started out running here in Rathkeale in the Munster Marathon back in the late 70s, prior to Dublin. That was my first introduction to it and in my first Dublin Marathon I broke three hours, 26 seconds under the three hours.

Dublin just fit into my schedule every year and in the latter years I've tried to keep the record going but that wasn't the case in the early years, it was never a plan."

Seamus says that he has had to be more strategic with his training methods as they years have gone on, putting more of an emphasis on rest and recovery in his latter years. 

"The body isn't able for what it was in the early years. I could've been doing anything up to 100 miles a week and now as you get older I've noticed that I've slowed back big time and the recovery periods are longer. The week leading up to it is just about resting up to get around it. 

You have to change your methods as you get older, I've been doing it so long now that the body isn't really bale to take it like it once did. The last few years I've been in and around the four hour mark the last few years, my best ever time of two hours and 35 minutes was in the early 80s." 

Seamus says he has no goal in mind in terms of number of Dublin Marathons completing, stating he will be taking a year on year approach. 

"1985 onwards would've been my best years as a runner and in 1985 we won the National Marathon in Limerick, that's the best medal I have and I always said that if I won an All-Ireland medal I would stop running but here I am 40 years later.

"I don't have a goal in mind, you can't really have a goal to be honest, you just have to take it year on year," he said.